Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

50 reviews

celery09's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A funny, emotional, fast paced story that really delves deep into characterization. I immediately fell in love with the blunt honesty of Eva (excuse me, John-vee-EV) and how she was connected and how she interacted with the people around her. I also loved Shane and his inner conflict. The romance was sweet, fiery, and broken from the beginning. Right person, wrong time type story. 

There were some gaps in the plot though. I feel like Eva’s motherhood was only used to further the story instead of develop her character, as it only came up in the story when it was convenient to push a conflict or further the attraction between Shane and Eva. Otherwise, Audre gets sent off, doing her own thing and being labeled as independent. (I liked Audre’s character, very relatable, I just wanted to see more of them together as a separate entity from the romance or the conflict.) 

The trauma between both main characters also was large, and deep. I felt like the book needed to be longer, to feel really connected about how both of these people are affected by the unique tragedies they both faced. And the ending felt slightly forced, as maybe they should’ve waited a little longer without me saying too much. 

Beautiful message, though. Great voices about racism and expecting all Black characters so center around some sort of trauma. And well thought out criticisms about the book industry and entertainment industry as a whole about what it means to be a Black creator. And the romance, again, was very well written. I would recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ells94w's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Bullying, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault

cristinareading's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence, Vomit, and Police brutality

matcha_pages's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This modern romance lives up to the hype. Eva and Shane have such palpable romantic tension and history drawing you in to their story. The characters stand up on their own with their rich backstories and compelling dynamics. Especially Lizzette, would love to learn more about her. I typically don't like kids who act like adults, but Audre wanting to be a celeb therapist was cute and felt natural to the story. 

I also liked the commentary about publishing not letting black authors write about the fun, regular things. Very meta.

Loved this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Murder

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ngl there are a bunch of parts of this book that i think were unsuccessful or just not great/necessary. however, i fell in absolute love with the characters and their stories. i would do anything for them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

katelynprice's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I almost DNF'd at 50% because I was having trouble connecting with and investing in the characters. The second half was much better; toward the end I finally started buying into their love for one another. I think I needed the book and characters to acknowledge the dysfunction and codependency of the relationship, because once that happened, I was able to fully embrace it. All throughout the writing was beautiful, and I loved the mother-daughter relationship as well as Eva's journey of self-discovery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Sexual assault, Car accident, and Death of parent

startjpw23's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is about two people who had an intense, weeklong romance when they were 17 that didn't end well. They both went on to become successful authors. They hadn't spoken in 15 years until they meet at a book discussion event. They both had very difficult upbringings that have affected them their whole adult lives. The book details their efforts to reconnect. The process doesn't go smoothly. The book goes back in time to their childhoods to show what they had to endure. One of the characters has a serious medical condition that she has to deal with on a daily basis. The book shows how they attempt to deal with their childhood traumas as part of trying to build a new relationship. I loved the book. It was messy and I really cared about the characters. The supporting characters were interesting too. And sometimes funny.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexism

darkhorse488's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was a literary romance with serious heft to it and I devoured it in two days. It felt like all of the things I love about well done literary fiction mashed up with an underlying romance novel. I loved that it didn’t fit neatly into either genre, but if you’re used to reading more traditional, lighthearted romance books check the content warnings on this one before diving in because there are a LOT of them. Ultimately, I loved how real these characters felt because of the difficult life circumstances they experienced and I thought the writing was gorgeous. I highly recommend this to folks who don’t typically read romance as an entry point into the genre if you’re curious!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Medical content

Minor: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Car accident

sonia_447's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, and Self harm

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Child death

marena02's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment